Improvement in water-proof shoes



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Letters Patent No. 99,262, dated January 25, 1870.

The'schedule referred to in these Letters 'Patent and making part Of the same.

To all whom it may concern- Be it known that I, WILLIAM H; Townes, of Bus ton, in the county of Suffolk, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have originated an invention of a new and useful manufacture of boots and shoes, which I term a Ventilating Water-Proof Boot; and do hereby declare the following to be a full, lucid, and exact description of my invention, suificient to enable others skilled in the craft to which it appertains to produce it.

Figure l is a sectional elevation of a shoe with my invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-section of the same.

This drawing shows a shoe made in the ordinary manner, but having the upper made of a fabric such as hereinafter described, which fabric is impervious to water, but porous to air. Heretofore-similar materials have been made by water-proofing fabrics by means of India rubber, gutta-percha, and the like, but these render the fabric also impervious to air, and are, therefore, objectionable.

- The immunity from damp or wet feet, which a boot' or shoe composed-0f India rubber secures, is, of course, well known and appreciated.

Many objections, however, to the use of such articles of clothing,'have manifested themselves and have been persistently urged, both from sanitary and fashionable points of view.

The physician objects-to them on account of their air-tight property and consequent want of ventilation, as well as their inability to admit of escape of perspiration from the feet and limbs of the wearer, not to speak of their extra weight.

Multitudes of people object to wearing them, not from these causes alone, but from, the unsightly and unfashionablc appearance as well, and many prefer to suffer wet feet rather than to adopt them.

The purpose of my invention, as herein embodied and described, is to producea boot or shoe possessing the water-proof properties of India rubber, without its objectionable features, and at the. same time preserving the ordinary appearance of a cloth boot, which, in fact and substance, it'is.

My said invention, then, as may be inferred from the above premises, consists in forming the upper of a boot or shoe of a woven fabric, treated with waterproof materials or compounds, and in .such manner that the cloth, while retaining its ordinary appearance and ventilating-properties, shall be effectually proof against penetration by moisture.

-I have discovered that by the employment of materials of a peculiar nature, Iam enabled to treat cloth or a woven fabric in such manner, that while sufficiently porous to permit of air being forced through itsinterstices, it is impervious to the passage of moisture or water; hence a boot or shoe may, as before premised, preserve the appearance of one not rendered water-proof, but made in. the usual manner, of ordinary material, but which shall be absolutely waterproof.

Several modes of preparing a fabric, such as used in carrying out my invention are known, first by coating the cloth with saponified oil, and then drying it,,or by steeping it in metallic solutions, such as alum and the acetate of lead. These make the fabric water-proof, but not impervious to perspiration.

I am aware, that previous to my present invention, boots and shoes, composed of a material other than India rubber, have been provided with a lining of a material impervious'to moisture, and for an example of such manufacture of boots, the reader is referred to Letters Patent of the United States issued to myself, April 13, 1869.

In this instance, as well as all instances wherein the outer surface of the boot-upper is composed of a woven fabric not rendered water-proof, the rain and moisture'penctrate the latter to such an extent, that though not absolutely coming in contact with the foot, it'renders it cold and uncomfortable, and also to some extent soils the wearers apparel.

I am not aware of a previous existence of a boot or shoe, whose upper is composed of a woven or textile fabric, rendered water-proof by artificial treatment; consequently, as by. such, in the employment of such an upper, Idevelop a new and valuable result, I consider myself entitled to the benefits which an exclusive title to such invention will secure to me.

What I therefore claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

As a new article of manufacture, a boot or shoe whose upper is composed of a textile fabric saturated with a preparation substantially as herein described, so as to render it impervious to external moisture, but remaining pervious to air and perspiration, for the purpose and to produce results hereinbefore explained.

WM. H. TOWERS. Witnesses:

FRED. Gun-ms. EDWARD GRIFFITH. 

